Idaho Angler Bags State Record Coho Second Day of New Fishing Season

A northern Idaho angler claimed the new state record for coho salmon on the second day of the state’s first sea-run coho season.

Angler Ethan Crawford, of Moscow, Idaho, landed this 9.1-pound, 31-inch female coho over the weekend. Crawford’s catch beat the previous state record, a six-pounder caught in the Cascade Reservoir in 1992.

Lewiston Tribune

Crawford, a biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, caught the beefy coho with a spinner. He told reporters that he’s glad the state opened the new monthlong season for sea-run coho.

“It’s kind of neat,” Crawford said. “It’s just cool we have this season and opportunity to catch coho.”

Last week, Idaho wildlife officials approved a monthlong coho fishing season on the Clearwater River that will run through Nov. 16. The new fishing season is part of a decades-long effort by the Nez Perce Tribe to restore coho to the Clearwater River.

Coho disappeared from the river in 1985. In 1995, the tribe began introducing coho eggs and salmon back into the river. Earlier this month, 15,000 cohos passed through a section of the river, prompting officials to allow a monthlong coho fishing season.

Joe DuPont, a fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said he thinks anglers have already caught coho larger than the new record, but haven’t bothered turning them in for verification.

“They are bonking them and eating them and not even thinking about it,” said DuPont.